Method of making box-like containers



G. D. WIEPERT IE'IHOD OF IAKING BOX-LIKE CONTAINERS July 20, 1948.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 30, 1947 lnuenl'or yv q vbm fitter/legs Patented July 20, 1948 IMETHOD OF MAKING BOX-LIKE CONTAINERS George Douglas Wiepert, Branlord, Conn., assignor to The Merriam Manufacturing Company, Durham, Comm, a corporation of Connecticut Application January 30, 1947, Serial No. 725,311

2 Claims. v1

The present invention relates in general to receptacles and more especially to an improved box-like receptacle and method of making the same.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved receptacle which is neat in appearance and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an improved method of making a boxlike receptacle wherein a minimum number of operations is required for forming a single blank into a finished box.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved method of forming a box wherein the end walls of the box are adapted to be bent up substantially simultaneously with the flaps at corresponding ends of the side walls.

With the above and other objects in view, as will appear to those skilled in the art from the present disclosure. this invention includes all features in the said disclosure which are novel over the prior art and which are not claimed in any separate application.

In the accompanying drawings, in which certain modes of carrying out the present invention are shown for illustrative purposes:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a blank from which the improved receptacle of this invention is formed;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the blank shown in Fig. 1 with the longitudinal flanges of the side walls of the blank bent over to form smooth beads on the outer edges of the side walls;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional side elevation of one end of the blank on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 showing a portion of the bottom, the end wall and the flange of the latter all in a common horizontal plane;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the blank as shown in Fig. 2, but with the flanges of the end walls turned upwardly at substantially right angles thereto; I

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional side elevation of one end of the blank on line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the blank as shown in Fig. 4, but with the end walls and flaps of the side walls bent upwardly at substantially right angles to the bottom of the blank to provide a partially-formed box;

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary sectional side elevation of one end of the partially-formed box on line 1-1 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of ,the partially formed box as shown in Fig. 6, but with the side walls partly folded up, the free ends of the flaps of the side walls being in engagement with the beveled ends of the flanges of the end walls;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of one end of the box as shown in Fig. 8, showing the position of one of the flaps with respect to the bevel-ended flange oi the corresponding end wall of the box;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged sectional end elevation of the partially-formed box on section line Ill-HI of Fig. 8;

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the box after the side walls have been folded in and before the flanges of the end walls have been turned down;

Fig. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional side elevation of one end of the box on line l2-l2 of Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is an enlarged perspective view partly in section of the completed box;

Fig. 14 is a side elevation in section of the completed box on line i l-44 of Fig. 13; and

Fig. 15 is an end elevation in section of the completed box on line l5-l5 of Fig. 13.

In carrying out the present invention it is proposed to provide the blanks for the box-like receptacle of this invention by stamping or otherwise forming the blanks from a continuous length of material in any well known manner, the preferred material being a suitable metal of relatively-thin gauge. It will be understood, however, that any other material having good mechanical strength and capable of being bent in the manner shown and hereinafter described. may be used. One of these blanks is indicated generally at ID in Fig. l of the drawings and comprises a bottom portion H which is substantially rectangular in shape, its opposite longitud nal edges, indicated by the broken lines I! in Fig. 1 and corresponding to fold-lines, having integrally-joined substantially-rectangular sidewall portions I3. Each of the side-Wall portions I3 is, in turn, provided at its opposite ends, indicated by the broken lines M in Fig. 1 and corresponding to fold-lines, with integrally-joined substantially-rectangular flaps I5, the width of each flap. corresponding substantially to the width of the respective side-wall portion l3 and the length of each flap corresponding substantially to one-half the width of the bottom portion H of the blank. Each side-wall portion I3 is provided also with a longitudinal flange l6 integrally joined to the outer edge of each side-wall portion. as indicated by the broken line I 1, the over-all length of each flange being substantially equal to the over-all length of its respective sidewall portion l3. The bottom portion ll of the blank is prouded at its opposite ends, which are indicated by the broken lines l8 in Fig. 1, with end-wall portions I 9 which are joined integrally thereto andwhich are substantially rectangular in shape, the width of each end-wall portion l9 being substantially equal to the Widthof each side-wall portion l3 and its respective flap l; and the length of each end-wall portion l9 being substantially equal to the width of the bottom portion H. Each end-wall portion I9 is provided at its outer edge 20 with an integrallyjoined flange or fastening-means 2|, the opposite ends of which are beveled, as indicated at 22, for the purpose hereinafter described.

In forming a box-like receptacle from the blank shown in Fig. 1 in accordance with the improved method of this invention, the longitudinal flanges N5 of the side-wall portions l3 are first bent over on the fold-lines l1 and pressed down tightly onto the adjacent upper surfaces of their respective side-wall portions l3 to form smooth rounded edges or beads 23 along the outeredge of each side-wall portion l3, as indicated in Fig. 2. Following the formation of the longitudinally-beaded edges 23, each bevelended flange 2| of its respective end wall I9 is 'bent up on its fold-line 20 at substantially right angles thereto, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The next operations which are performed on the blank are adapted to convert the blank from the blank form shown in Fig. 4 to a partially-formed boxlike receptacle. Heretofore, it has been customar in folding up the side-wall portions and end-wall portions of a blank to first bend up the portions corresponding to the flaps I5 at substantially right angles to their respective sidewall portions and then to fold up the side-wall:

portions at substantially right angles to the bottom of the box. Ifhereafter, the end-wall portions have been folded up into cooperative relationship with the flaps of the side walls and finally the flange or fastening-means of each end wall has been turned, down over the upper edges of its respective flaps to secure the flaps, side walls and end walls together. Thus, a minimum of four separate steps have been required to form a box from a blank. The present invention features the discovery that by providing beveled ends on the flanges or fastening-means of the end walls, the latter and the side walls of the box may be assembled in a minimum of three operations. Thus, in accordance with the present invention, the end-wall portions I9 and the flaps l5 of the side-wall portions are adapted to be bent up at substantially right angles to the bottom portion II and side-wall portions I3 respectively of the blank before the side-wall portions are folded up. The bending up of each end-wall portion and the corresponding flaps of the side walls may be done simultaneously or the end-wall portions may be bent up first, after which the flaps may be bent up, the flaps and end-wall portions assuming the relationship shown in Figs. 6 and 7. In this connection, it should be noted that the fold-line l8 of each end-wall portion I9 is not coextensive with the fold-lines M of the flaps ii at corresponding ends of the blank, but is displaced outwardly slightly so that when the end-wall portions l9 are bent up, the vertical plane of the inner face of each end-wall portion is coincident with the vertical plane of the outer faces of the flaps l5, as shown in Figs. 6 and '7, as a consequence of which the latter are adapted to swing inwardly in front of the inner faces of the end walls i 9, as hereinafter described and as shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

The next operation on the partially-formed box is that of folding in the side-wall portions l3. As each side well I3 is folded up on its foldline l2, its respective flaps I! are swung inwardly inside of the inner face of its respective end wall Hi, the outer free ends 24 of each flap being brought into engagement with the corresponding beveled ends 22 of its respective flange 2|,

as a consequence of which the flaps and end walls are displaced relative to each other by the camming action of the free ends 24 of the flaps of the flanges, as

against the beveled ends 22 indicated in Fig. 9. The relative displacement of the flaps l5 and end walls l9 may consist primarily of the inward deflection of each flapv hanging-flange 2| of its respective end wall, as I indicated clearly in Fig. 12, the inherent resiliency of the flaps and end walls bringing these elements into cooperative relationship, a: indi-- cated in Figs. 11, 12 and 15. Thereafter, the bevel-ended flanges 2| of the. respective end walls l9' are bent down on the fold-lines 20 over the upper edges 25 of the inturned flaps IS, the flanges being flattened tightly against the inner faces of the flaps l5, as shown in Figs. 13 and 14, to clamp the latter securely to their respective end walls and simultaneously to form smooth rounded beads 26 on the upper edges of the end walls. In accordance with the foregoing construction, the end walls comprise double-walled end-closures for the box, the side walls and end walls of which are securely held in cooperative relationship by the bevel-ended flanges 2| which constitute the only fastening-means for holding the elements of the box together.

Although the drawings and description relate to a substantially-rectangular box having relatively-long side walls and relatively-short end walls, it will be understood that the invention is applicable to rectangular boxes, the sides and ends of which may be substantially equal in length.

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention, and the present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

I claim:

l. The method of forming a receptacle having a bottom, a pair of side walls and a pair of double-walled end-closures comprising the steps of forming a blank from sheet metal,-the said blank having a bottom-portion and side-wall and end-wall portions: beveling the opposite'corners respectively of each end-wall portion to form mitered edges; bending-up opposite end-portions of each side wall at substantially right angles thereto to form rectangular flaps; bending-up a relatively-narrow longitudinal strip along the of the flaps and end walls outer edge of each respective end-wall portion at substantially right angles thereto to form a lastening-fiange embodying said mitered edges, folding-up said end-wall portions and said sidewall portions at substantially right angles to said bottom so as to simultaneously engage the straight edges of said rectangular flaps with the respective mitered edges of said fastening-flanges initially to flex the said flaps inwardly from beneath said fastening-flanges and subsequently to release said flaps to permit the latter to spring back beneath said fastening-flanges against the inner faces of said end walls; and then bending said fastening-flanges down over the upper edges of the respective pairs of flaps at corresponding ends of said receptacle to secure each end wall and its corresponding pair of flaps in assembled relationship 2. The method of forming a receptacle having a bottom, a pair of side walls and a pair of double-walled end-closures comprising the steps of forming a blank from sheet metal, the said blank having a bottom-portion and side-wall and endwall portions; beveling the opposite corners respectively of each end-wall portion to form mitered edges; bending-over the longitudinal edge of each respective side wall to form a bead thereon; bending-up opposite end-portions of each side wall at substantially right angles thereto to form rectangular flaps; bending-up a relatively-narrow longitudinal strip along the outer edge of each respective end-wall portion at substantially right angles thereto to form a fastening-flang embodying said mitered edges,

ends of said receptacle to secure each end wall and its corresponding pair of flaps in assembled relationship. I

G. DOUGLAS WIEPERT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 976,914 Rex Oct. 18, 1910 1,168,073 Houghland Nov. 29, 1910 1,873,720 Piker Aug. 23, 1 932 1,912,915 Piker June 6, 1933 2,358,457 Jackson Sept. 19, 1944 I FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 9,108 France Aug. 29, 1908 298,846 Great Britain Oct. 18, 1928 

